Potentially Life-Saving Hepatitis C Drug Prices Many Out of the Market

The new drug Sovaldi, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in December, has brought fresh hopes of a cure for the estimated 3.2 million Americans with chronic hepatitis C, a disease that can ravage the liver. Results so far have shown the drug has life-saving potential.

But its price tag of $84,000 per treatment – or $1,000 a pill – has put it out of reach for many who suffer from the disease. The price alone has already had ramifications in Colorado, Rocky Mountain PBS I-News has learned.

Sovaldi

Faced with a $7.2 million bill after a short time of paying for Sovaldi, Colorado’s Medicaid program put the brakes on covering the drug early this year. Between late January and May, only four of the 43 Medicaid patients who applied to receive the drug received it.

“We absolutely, sadly, cannot afford to treat everyone with hepatitis C,” Dr. Judy Zerzan, the chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, told Rocky Mountain PBS I-News. She describes her department’s approach as “how do we figure out who are most critical to treat right now, and who will benefit from it?”

Meanwhile, the drug's manufacturer, Gilead Sciences, Inc., has come under pressure from U.S. legislators. Representative Diana DeGette, a Democrat from Colorado, was among members of Congress who sent a letter to the pharmaceutical company in March demanding to know how Gilead reached its price tag for Sovaldi.

“Our concern is that a treatment cannot cure patients if they cannot afford it,” the legislators wrote.

Gilead spokeswoman Cara Miller told I-News that Sovaldi was priced to match the cost of prior regimens, and reduces the total cost of hepatitis C treatment when taking into account doctors’ visits and the costs of treating side effects.

Sovaldi “represents a finite cure, an important point to consider when comparing the price of a pill or bottle to the lifetime costs of treating a chronic disease,” Miller said in a statement.

Meanwhile, competitive drugs from other manufacturers are expected to impact the market in the future.

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Kristin Jones joined I-News as health reporter in September 2013. Kristin's investigative reporting on health and justice has won national awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award for public service journalism and the Dart Center Award for reporting on trauma. Before joining I-News, Kristin covered business for the real-time news desk of The Wall Street Journal.

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One thought on “Potentially Life-Saving Hepatitis C Drug Prices Many Out of the Market”

I couldn’t tell (from a recent article in the Summit Daily) whether or not there was another study coming up,such as the Everson’s study done a few mths. back I did read there were new criteria established. I have the disease, myself, and am praying that i might have a chance to try this new miracle cure -Sovaldi. I am on disability (Medicaid). I have never had any treatment in the 38 years I’ve (evidently) had Hep C, since a horrifying car accident and blood transfusion at age 16. I live in a very rough climate and terrain so much so, that I never felt confident to do the Interf. – Ribo. injections (with all the side effects) and be able to care for myself & my 2 big dogs in the long winters up here. Please, share any information you might be able to. ***Waiting more anxiously than can describe***!!

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